Math Challenge: Representing Scale in the Solar System

Mr. Loar’s math students were recently presented with a unique challenge: represent the distance between the planets in our universe in the 3rd floor hallway of Linden Grove School.

Students first viewed a video of Bill Nye the Science Guy who demonstrated the distance between planets by biking 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) across a barren plain.

Then students were asked to scale the solar system down even further – down to the length of a school hallway. Consider:

Mercury is 36,000,000 miles from the sun (3.6 x 107 using exponents)

Pluto is 3,700,000,000 miles from the sun (3.7 x 109 using exponents)

If one can write the distance from each planet to the sun using exponents, the next challenge is to consider how to represent the distances: what happens if one uses inches or feet? What about floor tiles Post-it® notes or even paper clips?

If you were to represent the solar system on a football field:

The sun, at the goal line, would be about the size of a dime

Mercury, the size of a grain of sand, would be just under a yard from the goal line

Venus would be 1.4 from the end zone

Earth would be on the 2 yard line

Mars is on the 3 yard line

Jupiter on the 10.5 yard line

Saturn is on the field at 19 yards

Uranus is at 38 yards (just beyond field goal range)

Neptune is 60 yards from the goal line

Pluto is 79 yards out

This is simply another example of a hands-on activity related not only to a specific class (math) but also to other subjects (science) and also encouraging “soft” skills such as creativity, critical thinking and visioning.